Time-Life Album Discography, Part 21:Sounds of the Seventies/Ultimate Seventies
Series
By Mike Callahan, David Edwards, and Patrice Eyries
Last update: February 11, 2008

This series featured music from the 1970s. The early volumes (issued 1990 and before) were
probably issued as 2-LP box sets as well as CD, but we have not seen the LP sets. There were 40
volumes in the first set released (with the SOD- prefix), starting in 1989 and running to 1995. In 1996,
some of the volumes of the set, along with some new volumes, were reissued using the R840- prefix. At
least some of these volumes have been reissued under the series title Sounds of the Seventies/'70s
Dance Party. After 2000, the first ten volumes of the series were reissued as Ultimate
Seventies, in the same order as the originals, using the R634- series..

As with many of their subscription series from the early 1990s, Time-Life ventured into the retail market
in the late 1990s with a series of 3-CD budget box sets. These were meant to be representative
samplers of the larger series, probably in hopes of attracting new subscribers who knew little about
Time-Life's subscriptions. Each box set contained three CDs, with artwork representative of the series,
all enclosed in a thin cardboard cover. Each of the box sets had "Greatest Hits" down the left side of the
cover and down the left side of the CDs in the tray area. The CDs themselves usually had only 12
tracks, unlike the 18-24 on the regular subscription versions in the series. At left is a promo sheet for the
"retail version" of the Sounds of the Seventies series box set.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information
web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association
with Time-Life or Warner Bros. Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this
discography (all of which are out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the
instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2004, 2008 by Mike Callahan.

R138-38 (PolyGram Special Products) - Sounds of the Seventies: Celebration -
Various Artists [1994] This volume was first issued under the title Physical. A reader
notes, "I subscribed to this series when it first came out. They never did send me the whole series (they
only sent me 35 of the 38 volumes). The last one they sent to me for this series was "Physical", Catalog
R138-38 and it does not fit in with the rest of the series. When I had called them at the time about this
they told me this was part of the series and that it was the last one in the series." It was soon re-titled
Celebration and offered separately from the Sounds of the Seventies series. Maniac -
Michael Sembello (S)/Celebration - Kool & The Gang (S)/I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters (S)/Call Me -
Blondie (S)/Fame - Irene Cara (S)/Upide Down - Diana Ross (S)/Physical - Olivia Newton- John
(S)/More More More, Part 1 - Andrea True Connection (S)/Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine
Nightingale (S)/Last Dance - Donna Summer (S)/In The Navy - Village People (S)/Gloria - Laura
Branigan (S)/(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty - K.C. & Sunshine Band (S)/Get Up And Boogie -
Silver Convention (S)/Funkytown - Lipps, Inc. (S)/Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches & Herb (S)/Take
Me Home - Cher (S)/Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb (S)

M181-36 - Sounds of the Seventies: Greatest Hits - Various Artists [1999] This was a
3-CD box set sold in retail stores as the "retail version" of the series. It contained the following three
budget CDs in a cardboard cover:

Reissue of Sounds of the Seventies Series as The Ultimate
Seventies:This series was a reissue of the first ten volumes of the Sounds of the
70s series, in the same order, with different covers and new catalog numbers.